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It’s Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle time, friends! Crisp on the outside, gooey pepperminty fudge on the inside… I call them CRACKles, because it’s impossible to stop at just one!

Here’s how it goes in our house:

October = pumpkin,

November = gingerbread,

and December = PEPPERMINT.

The holiday season is the BEST time for peppermint EVERYTHING, but there’s clearly nothing quite like the combo of rich, dark chocolate and cool, spicy peppermint. From hot chocolate, to bark, to cookies- we get our fill before it’s time to atone for the gluttony of this… the sweetest season of all. 🎄

It’s NOT January yet folks, and we NEED our holiday cookies. Luckily I’ve got just the fix! 😋

Last year I posted FOUR of my favorite recipes and shared how I’ve taken over cookie making responsibilities from my grandmother. Each Christmas Eve her doily-lined platters would overflow in mountains of delectable bites. Some crunchy. Others chewy, Many gooey. All of them delicious.

Grandma would be proud- I’ve kept her holiday cookie tradition rolling with batches of her greatest hits- and sprinkling in a few of my own, too.

Each year, without fail, there HAS to be a chocolate peppermint cookie. I started making this one a number of years ago, and it became a fast family favorite.

It’s fudgy, dense-but-NEVER-dry interior is almost like a bite-size brownie. But what’ll send you back to the platter for seconds (and thirds!) is the spike of mint. It’s magical.

But in addition to their winter snowball-like charm, and their seductive flavor, they’ve got another superhero quality.

I found out one year, after getting way too deep into my holiday cookie baking mode and tripling the batch, that they keep for quite a long time! You can make them up to 10 days ahead.

Take them to your holiday cookie exchange, pass them out to your family, serve them up for dessert – or stash them on your top shelf… I won’t tell 😉.

Can I make these ahead of time?

Absolutely! They keep beautifully, stored in an airtight container, for about 10 days.

You can also make the dough ahead, and keep it in the fridge for two days before baking, or in the freezer for a month before baking.

We all know holiday season can be batty- these cookies will give you a head start.

Any tips when making these Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles?

If you do make these ahead and intend to freeze the dough before baking, I recommend forming them BEFORE they go in the freezer. Place the balls on a parchment lined sheet and freeze until firm. Then you can transfer to a container or freezer bag, and take out however many you’d like to bake at that given time!

Setting up a double boiler is the best way to melt the chocolate and butter together so that you don’t accidentally scorch the chocolate. Check out my chef tip video on how to use a double boiler HERE.

Make sure you have a good peppermint extract. If it’s from last year, you may need to replace it as the flavor will be dulled. Don’t use peppermint “flavor” or oil.

The powdered sugar will “melt” into the cookie the longer it is stored, so if you do make these in advance, try dusting them with a little more powdered sugar before serving to freshen up their looks.

Are there any substitutions?

No substitutions here, but you could press in some crushed peppermint candies onto the top of the cookie when they come out of the oven, if you like a little added crunch and some extra pepperminty flavor!

What kind of chocolate should I use?

The cocoa content should be somewhere between 55% and 68% ideally. I like to use discs, so that I can skip the step of chopping the chocolate myself, but if you can’t find that just get a good quality dark chocolate candy bar and break it into small pieces.

For the chocolate chips, use a good quality bittersweet chocolate chip, or buy a block or bar of high quality chocolate and chop it yourself into small chunks. Don’t use a semisweet or milk run-of-the-mill chocolate chip here. It won’t deliver on the flavor.

Instructions

Set up a double boiler by nesting a large bowl over a pot of barely simmering water. (See video for tip). Make sure the bowl is not resting in the water. Cut the butter into cubes, and if the chocolate is in block form, chop it and add it to the bowl with the butter. Melt over simmering water, stirring with a heat proof spatula.

Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the sugars.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add in the eggs to the chocolate mixture one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the extract.

Use a spatula or large spoon to add the flour to the chocolate mixture until just combined, then stir in the chocolate chips. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours, and up to 24.

Preheat the oven to 325. Line cookie sheets with parchment. Place the powdered sugar in a medium bowl and the granulated sugar in a separate bowl.

Form golfball sized balls of cookie dough, using your hands to shape them. Roll first in the granulated sugar, then in the powdered sugar so they are heavily coated. Place them on the cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes.

Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to racks. Cookies will keep, stored at room temperature, for 1 ½ weeks.

Just finished makings your Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles! Yum… I’ve never made a cookie with these flavors before! I rolled my balls about the size of big walnut … made 28 cookies. I also baked them about 5 minutes longer…. probably due to my ovens own quirks. I think my “grands” will love them!❤️

These cookies are amazing! Easy to make and great flavor. I liked how rolling them both in granulated and powdered sugar gives them a such a great presentation. They are my new “go to” for hostess and holiday gifts.